Portable house.



No. 696,996. Patented Apr. 8, |902.

c. P. Mon. PORTABLE HOUSE.

(Application led Apr. 23, 1901.)

No. 696,996. Patented Apr. 8, |902. C.' P. MUTT.

PORTABLE HUUSE.

(Application filed Apr. 23, 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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Inventor Witnesses:

Attys.

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N0. 696,996. Patented Apr. 8, |902.

6. P. MOTT.

PORTABLE HUUSE.

(Application tiled Apr. 28, 1901.)

Witnesses 1 v n? I I Mventor.)

Attys.

I L THE MORRIS PEYIS wy PNOYU'UYNO. WASHINGTON u nrnnir Fries..

CHARLES P. MOTT, OF MILFORD, `PENNSYLVANIA.

PORTABLE HOUSE.

SPECXFCATTLON forming* 'part Of Letters Patent No. 696,996, dated April8, 1902.

Application tiled April 23, 1901. Serial No. 57,050. (No model.)

To @Z whom it itrty concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES P. Morr, a citizen of the United States,residing at Milford, in the county of Pike and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Portable Houses,ofwhich the following is a speciiication.

The object of inyinvention is to produce a structure in which the partsare readily put together or separated and in which the walls, roof,r andflooring will be separable into pieces admitting of easy transportation.

A further object is to produce a structure in which the parts for eachside thereof are interchangeable, so that the windows and doors, forinstance, may be located on any side of the structure or the height ofthe sills varied.

A further object is to produce a structure in which nails, screws,bolts, and similarfastening devices are entirely dispensed with.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a perspective view of a wooden house embodying the featuresof my invention; Fig. 2, a sectional view on the line :c of Fig. 1; Fig.3, a perspective view of one corner of the wall-sills, showing themethod of securing the saine together and to the corner-uprights, whichsecure the corners of the side walls; Figs. 11 and 5, detail views ofthe pieces for the wall-sills; Figs. 6 and 7, detail views of thecorner-uprights and the top crossbraces thereof, which also serve tosecure the roof-boards; Fig. 8, a perspective view showing the jointbetween the Window sills or lintels and the jamb; Fig. 9, a detail viewof the piece used for the window-sills and for the window and doorlintels; Fig. 10, a detail View of the piece used for the window anddoorjarnbs; Fig. 11, a detail view ofthe doorsubsill; Fig. 12, a detailView of the door-sill; and Figs. 18, 14., and 15 show modifications.

Referring to the drawings, the parts lettered A and B represent the'wall-sills, the corners being mortised together. The tenons l) of sillsB project through mortises in sills A and are slotted to receivelocking-wedges h. The outer walls of these slots are rounded or beveledfrom opposite sides, so that the slots will be narrower at the center,as shown in u, whereby a single wedge will take a firmer hold than wouldbe the case with slots of uniform width, and the Wedge may be drivenfrom either side. The corner-uprights are right-angled pieces,preferably made of two pieces C and C, secured together at the corner.Pieces C each have extensions c and c', the former overlappingsill-pieces A and the latter projecting through slots in the endroof-boards. Extensions c are mortised to receive tenons l), and wedgesb are driven so that the extensions will be held firmly against thesides of sills A. These sills are slotted at a, as shown in Figs. 3 and4, to receive the ends o2 of pieces C' to more securely anchor the corner-uprights and reduce the strain on extensions c, and, further, torelieve the joint betweenthe pieces C and C', forming the uprights, fromthe strain caused by the wedging action of the ends of the boardsforming the side walls, as will appear hereinafter. Slots a are providedupon opposite sides of sills A in order that the sills may be reversed.

The walls D are made up of boards laid longitudinally and have eithertongue-andgroove, rabbeted, or other suitable joints. The ends of theboards are out to form miter-joints at the corners of the structure, asshown in Fig. 2. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 2vthat when thecorner-uprights are drawn together and secured by tie-boards E, Fig. 1,which are laid across the roof-boards, a very close and covered joint isformed at each corner of the structure. This form of joint dispenseswith all forms of anchoring devices and requires no inside braces tosecure the walls against inward collapse. As an addi'- tional means forsecurity, however, and for producing a still closer joint at the cornersI may provide, if desired, the inside cornerupright C2. (Shown inposition in the-lower left-hand corner of Fig. 2.) This upright is arectangular piece held in position at the bottom by recess f, formed bycutting away the corners of the floor-boards F, as shown at the lowerright-hand corner of Fig. 2, so that pieces C2 will rest upon the sills.At the top these pieces are held in position by cleats g', secured tothe under side of, the end roofboards, as shown in Fig. 13. The outsidecorner-uprights secure the walls against outthrough the tenons outsideof the extensions,

IOO

giving additional security to the walls.

ward collapse, said uprights being held together in one direction bytie-boards E and in the other direction by the end roof-boards, whichare provided with slots through which extensions c project, said endboards thus serving the same purpose as tie-boards E. Each board E isprovided with two slots e, Fig. 7, through which extensions c' of piecesC project, and in forming the slots the edges e' are beveled from bothsides, whereby the tieboards may bev reversed or interchanged, whichcould not be done if the slots were cut at an angle from one side only.These tieboards also serve to hold down the roofboards G. For simplicitythe roof is preferably given a slant in one direction with the peak atthe front, and for this purpose the top boards for the side Walls aretapered to make a close t. The floor-boards F are laid on the wall-sillsA and B, with the edges abutting on the irst or lower wall-boards D,thus The boards will be of any suitable material and may have any of theforms of joints commonly employed in flooring material.

The window-casings are formed of pieces H, Figs. 9 and l0, composed offacings h, secured to a connecting-web to form a piece U-shaped in crosssection, into which the wall-boards are inserted, as shown in Fig. 2.The sill and lintel piece is shown in Fig. 9, in which the connectingweb h is shown shorter than the facings h, the length of the web beingequal to the width of the windowsash. The side piece or jamb of thecasing is shown in Fig. l0, inwhich the facings h are equal to theheight of the window-sash, so as to t between the facings of the silland lintel, (see Fig. 1,) and the connecting-web h2 is shown longer thanthe facings, the length of the projection being equal to the thicknessof webs 7L', and which projections are inserted between the facings ofthe sill and lintel pieces (see Fig. 8) when putting the parts inposition, so that the web h will hold the jambs in position. In buildingup the side wall, which is to be provided with the window, a number ofwall-boards are placed edge on upon the sill A until the desired heightfor the window-sill is reached. The sill-piece of Fig. 9 is then placedin position, then the short wall-boards d and d'. Then the jambs areplaced in position, the lower tongues or projections on web h2 enteringbetween the facings h of the sill and filling the space between the endof web h and the beveled ends of boards d and d (see Fig. 2) and thefacings of the jambs straddling the ends of the boards. After this thelintel is placed in position, lthe upper tongues or projections on websh2 entering between the facings resting upon the upper ends of thejamb-facings. The next wall-board is now placed in position between thefacings of the lintel, and then the remainder of the wallboards are putup, the top board being tapered to match the end roof-board. Inconstructing the parts for the side wall containing a window the shortboards will be cut so that the top edge of the uppermost boards CZ and dwill be iiush with the upper side of web h' of the lintel, so that thenext long board will match joints with the uppermost boards d and CZ.

It will be seen from the foregoing description and by reference to Fig.2 that boards CZ and d may be changed so that the boards d will betoward the rear and that the window-casing will be then nearer the frontof the structure without recutting or in any way altering the originalform or length of the parts, the boards being mitered at both ends topermit the change without the necessity of reversing the boards. Thewindow-sash is omitted, but it will be understood that it will be heldin place by cleats or pivots or in any other suitable manner.

The door-casing is made up the same as the window-casing, except thesill. The lintels are of the same length and interchangeable, and thejambs are of the same shape as the window-jalnbs, but of course arelonger. The sill is preferably made up of subsill I and sill J, Figs. 1land 12. In building up the front wall, in which the door will usually beplaced, the lowermost short boards d2 and d3 are first placed inposition, and then subsill I is placed between the ends of those boards,the bev` eled ends entering cuts I, Fig. 2, and the extensions z"projecting in front of the boards. Sill .I is then placed directly uponthe subsill with the projections straddling boards cl2 and d3.Projections J are slightly greater in width than the thickness of thejamb-facings and the projections are longer than the width of thefacings, so as to give a more finished appearance. Projections J andextensions t" are of suflicient length to insure the maintenance ofboards d2 and d3 in alinement. The tongues or projections h2 of thedoor-jambs enter the slots in the sill J and fill the space between thebeveled ends of. the boards and the ends of the slots. When thedoor-jambs and lintels are in position, the remainder of short boards d2and d3 are placed in position, the upper edge of the last one beingflush with the upper side of web h of the lintel, and then the longboards are placed in position. The door will be hung to the jamb in theusual manner. I prefer to employ hinges having separable leaves, so thatthe door may be readily removed or placed in position; and it will beunderstood that by inverting the jamb to which the hinges are secured orinterchanging the jambs the door may be arranged to open inwardly oroutwardly and either to the right or left, the latching-plate for thedoor-lock being arranged and located on the locking-jamb, so that thelatch will properly engage therewith.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the position of boards d2 and d3may be changed ICO IIO

and that the door may be placed nearer the/ left wall, if desired. Itwill also be seen that since the walls are of the same length positionof the Window and door may be interchanged or that either the window orthe door might be placed in the rear or right Walls Without recutting oraltering any of the parts.

The roof-boards G are laid upon the wallboards D and, as above stated,are held down by tie-boards E, which are provided with two slots,through which projections c of the corner-uprights extend. Thetie-boards are held in position by wedges c3. To prevent the roof-boardsslipping down, cleats may be secured to the under side of the boards, soas to engage either or both top boards of the front and rear walls, orwhen the ordinary tongue-and-grooved boards are employed the tongue maybe cut away for a short length and a corresponding block g inserted inthe groove directly opposite. Each board.V

being similarly provided, it Will be seen that when the tongues of theroof boards are forced into the grooves of the adjacent boards that theblocks in the grooves will enter the notches in thevtongues, and thusprevent the boards slipping upon each other, and since the end boardsare held by projections c all the boards will be held against slipping,as shown in FigxlS. This iigure also shows battens G', with which theroof-boards are provided, if desired, and, as shown, these battens areplaced under the tie-boards E.

In Figs. 14 and l5 I have shown hour the structure may be constructedwhen the roof slopes both Ways with the peak in the center, aconstruction which will be employed in large houses. In these figures amiddle sill B is employed, the connection with sills A being the same aswith sills B. L is a center upright, there being one on each side,having extensions l, like extensions c of the corneruprights, and whichare mortised to sill B in the same manner. Above the sill upright L isundercut, as shown in Fig. 14, to receive the beveled ends of thewall-boards, this undercut portion projecting over and being seated uponsill A. The upper end of piece L is slotted, as shown in Fig. 15, toreceive the tenen of a beam M, which supports the roof-boards at thepeak, the abutting ends being covered by ridge-board G2. To secure theroof-boards at the peak, upright L is provided With two arms L', whichcorrespond to extensions o and project through the slots in the endroof-boards as in the structure of Fig. l and with which the tie-boardsE cooperate to hold the side walls together and to hold down theroof-boards. Instead of employing ridge-board G? tie-boards E may bemade wider, so as to meet at the peak, and thus perform the function ofthe ridge-board. Sill B and side upright L may be employed with thestructure of Fig. l, if desired, to provide additional support for thefloor and roof boards. In such case, however, side uprights Lwill not beprovided with arms L', but will have single straight extensionsextending through slots in the end roof-boards, which will be securedtogether by tie-boards E and wedges, or instead of vpieces L side pieceslike part C of the corner-uprights might be employed and secured in thesame manner. In either case the side upright and Wallboa'rds will beslotted to receive the tenon of beam M.

1. In a portable house, the combination of wall-boards laidlongitudinally and having beveled ends, corner-uprights into which thebeveled ends of the Wall-boards are inserted, and means for connectingsaid uprights, whereby close joints are formed at the corners and theWall-boards held against lateral displacement, substantially as setforth.

2. In a portable house, the combination of wall-boards arranged to formmiter-joints at the corners,i'ectangular corner-uprights with- `in whichthe miter-joints are forn1ed,`and

means for connecting said uprights, substantially as set forth.

3. In a portable house, the combination with the Wall-sills, Walls, androof-boards, of uprights secured to the sills for securing thewall-boards, said uprights having projections extending above the roofboards, and tieboards extending across the roof-boards for securing theuprights together and for hold- `:ing down the roof-boards,substantially as set forth.

4:. In a portable house, the combination with wall-sills, walls, androof-boards, of uprights secured to the sills forsecuring theWallboards, said uprights having projections extending through slots inthe end roof-boards, and tie boards extending across the roofboards andprovided with slots through which jecting above the roof-boards,tie-boards extending across the roof-boards and mortised `to saiduprights, and means for securing the mortised joints, substantially asset forth.

6. In a portable house, the combination of Wall-sills A, B, havingmortised j oints,the tenons b of sill-pieces B projecting through sill-vpieces A,corneruprights consisting of `rectangular pieces havingmortised extensions c engaging tenons l), said uprights securing theWall-boards in position, and extensions c projecting through slots inthe endroof-boards, tie-boards extending across the roof-boardsVV andprovided with slots through which said extensions o also extend, andmeans for securing all joints, substantially as set forth.

7. A door-sill for portable houses, consisting of a subsill cut to fitWall-boards having IIO beveled ends and having means for holding it inposition, and a slotted top sill, the projections formed by the slots atboth ends extending on opposite sides of the Wall-boards, substantiallyas set forth.

8. A door-casing having in combination separable interlocking jamb,lintel and sill pieces, substantially as set forth.

9. A door-casing having in combination separable interlocking jamb,lintel and sill pieces, and said jarnb-pieces being interchangeable andreversible, whereby a door hung to either of the jamie-pieces may bearranged to swing in different directions With-

